The UK Prime Minister may have the regal touch in northern England, but he’s been wrong-footed on the constitutional challenges posed by the Celtic Alliance of first ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, argues KENNY MacASKILL
THERE has rightly been a lot of discussion on tax and spend policy as we are now in the long run-up to the next general election.
We even have the spectacle of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt pleading with businesses in the pages of the Times to share their profits more with customers.
This is a sure sign that there is an election coming and that the Tories are in trouble because of the dire state of the economy and the continuous fall in living standards.
A sharp rise in public-sector investment is required to kick-start the economy, argues MICHAEL BURKE
Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
PHILIP ENGLISH says military spending will not create the jobs young people need — instead, build an economy based around needs, not profit


